The Countdown’s On! Back to School! But First, School Physicals!

The Countdown’s On! Back to School! But First, School Physicals!

The countdown has officially begun! Back to school time is really one of my favorite times of year! Thankfully, it’s one of Ethan’s as well!  He’s not crazy about the trip to the DR’s office. For any reason. Luckily, we were asked to visit our local Walgreens Healthcare Clinic as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias to check out their school physicals. This made the whole ordeal way less dramatic for him. And, way easy one me! Sports or school physicals on your to-do list for back to school? Check this out!

As much as I (sometimes) complain about all this together-ness we spend during the Summer, I know after about a week of back to school time, I’ll be bummed Ethan’s gone all day. Happens every year. He’s getting to be such a big boy and is starting 2nd grade in 2 short weeks. He’s super excited. This weekend, we spent going over the list of everything we still need to do before the big *first day of school*. Buy school supplies, find the perfect backpack, grab a few more school uniforms and those dreaded school physicals.  Since he balks at anything and everything DR’s office related, I was hoping that  the new Walgreens Healthcare Clinic might be an easy way to work in the school physicals with the least amount of drama possible. Besides, our pediatrician’s office is booked up. Seems I’m not the only parent waiting to the last minute. Anyways, here’s what happened…

I went online to find what the hours are and if I I needed to bring anything for our little visit.  SWEET! Walgreens Healthcare clinics allow walk-ins! I know, right! Also, if you know exactly when you’ll be out and about, you can make an appointment. As late as 7:30 and even on weekends, which is totally when I wanted to pop in. Back to school physicals are covered by some insurance, some not. Ours? Not. Check and see! It’s $39 from now until 9/30. So if you’re a ‘not’ too, get in now before that goes up to $60.  While I repeatedly reminded Ethan he did not need any shots this go ’round, we headed to the back oh the store where the clinics are.

Ethan thought the sign in process was cool as it’s all computerized. I thought it was cool because it made the whole process super fast. I let him help fill out the forms on the touchscreen. They never let you do that at the DR’s office!  Less than five minutes later, the nurse practitioner called him in for his appointment. And here’s where I thought he’d bug out.

Like I said, he’s not exactly the best patient in the world. Even for simple back to school physicals. Don’t even ask about ‘shots’… Oy Vay. He tried to put up the tough guy act. But our awesome NP was so kind and patient. She did the usual back to school physicals type of stuff – read eye chart and check vision, blood pressure, take a peek in those ears, etc.

She threw in a few ‘tummy tickles’, listened to his chest and also a height and weight check. He decided he’s growing just perfectly to be a Pirate someday. So, there’s that.  She also asked him if he was a ‘sports kinda guy’. Which, he’s totally not. Give him his books, his Nook or his new Roller blades and he’s happy. She reminded him to always wear his helmet with his new blades and went over concussion safety. I think it’s awesome that they are getting kids younger about sports safety, especially when it comes to knocking heads like football players.

Over all, our NP made the whole process super easy and even fun. It was nice not to have to wait weeks for an appointment and for those without primary physicians, this would be perfect too! Ethan did so great and handled it like a champ, he got his favorite Sunflower seeds for snacking in the car on the way home and a few school supplies as well. I have to say, it was a nice surprise for me to see that Walgreens has added the #HealthCareClinic to their stores! OH! Also, if you need a flu shot, quick check-up for colds, etc, they do that as well! Check out our whole Walgreens trip over on G+ to see what else we got to do! And, to find out more about Walgreens Healthcare Clinics, visit them on Twitter or Facebook.